Is the G O P TRYING to self destruct??

Originally posted by sh76
Thank you... I think. 🙂

Dump people like Nancy Pelosi, Ted Kennedy, John Conyers, Chris Dodd, Charlie Rangel, Harry Reid, John Kerry and Howard Dean from the leadership.

Replace them with people like Evan Bayh, Joe Lieberman, Max Baucus, Ben Nelson and Mike Bloomberg (okay, so he's an Ind, not a Dem, but close enough).

Then we'll talk about my conversion.

So you'd fit in very nicely with the "blue dog" coalition within the Democratic Party. And as it stands right now, these folks are the ones with the real power. With the GOP (except maybe the two Senators from Maine) opposing everything and anything, the only way the Dems will get anything passed is to win over (pretty much ALL of) the blue dogs.

And I wouldn't be surprised if these blue dogs (along with the remaining handful of maverick GOPs - "red dogs?" ) decided to form a new party - they could even call it the Purple Dog Party. Anything that would provide an alternative to same old elephants and donkeys.

Originally posted by Melanerpes
So you'd fit in very nicely with the "blue dog" coalition within the Democratic Party. And as it stands right now, these folks are the ones with the real power. With the GOP (except maybe the two Senators from Maine) opposing everything and anything, the only way the Dems will get anything passed is to win over (pretty much ALL of) the blue dogs.

And I e Dog Party. Anything that would provide an alternative to same old elephants and donkeys.

I fit more in the (old)McCain/Crist/Giuliani wing of the GOP than with the Blue Dog Dems, but certainly the Blue Dog Dems are not far off from where I'd fit.

New England Republicans like Susan Collins, Olympia Snowe, Linc Chafee and Jumpin' Jim Jeffords (circa 2000) are more liberal than some Blue Dogs like Ben Nelson, Jon Tester and Heath Shuler anyway. So, it's hard to really draw a line in the sand between the GOP and the Dems at that part of the spectrum.

Incidentally, you strike me as being somewhere in that area of the political spectrum yourself.

Originally posted by sh76
I fit more in the (old)McCain/Crist/Giuliani wing of the GOP than with the Blue Dog Dems, but certainly the Blue Dog Dems are not far off from where I'd fit.

New England Republicans like Susan Collins, Olympia Snowe, Linc Chafee and Jumpin' Jim Jeffords (circa 2000) are more liberal than some Blue Dogs like Ben Nelson, Jon Tester and Heath Shuler anyway. So, ...[text shortened]... cidentally, you strike me as being somewhere in that area of the political spectrum yourself.

I have a deep belief that you need to have people willing to propose new ideas (usually but not always Dems) even if some of these ideas are radical or very expensive, and you also need to have other people (usu but not always GOP) willing to tear apart ideas and show all the ways that something can go wrong.

If the "big ideas people" and the "pessimistic naysayers" are willing to listen to each other and respond to their concerns, it's likely that something sane can be worked out. But too often these groups see each other as The Enemy and focus on tearing each other apart.

I also believe that both groups are motivated mainly by a desire to do what's best for the country. I don't like it when people suggest that the president or Congress members "want to destroy the economy" or "force poor people to starve". They may be misguided, they may be even be corrupt, but they're not evil.

Originally posted by sh76
I fit more in the (old)McCain/Crist/Giuliani wing of the GOP than with the Blue Dog Dems, but certainly the Blue Dog Dems are not far off from where I'd fit.

New England Republicans like Susan Collins, Olympia Snowe, Linc Chafee and Jumpin' Jim Jeffords (circa 2000) are more liberal than some Blue Dogs like Ben Nelson, Jon Tester and Heath Shuler anyway. So, cidentally, you strike me as being somewhere in that area of the political spectrum yourself.

From what I gather from your posts, you are what Europeans would call a right-wing conservative liberal. Conservative liberals accept that some degree of government intervention is necessary, especially in education and infrastructure, but want to keep taxes as low as possible, especially for the wealthy. They are in general for free international trade, are moderate when it comes to human rights and personal freedoms and promote entrepeneurship.

Of course, the American equivalent of the right-wing conservative liberals is the Democrat party.